GALEN ON THE AFFECTED PARTS

Edition by Chartier, Volume VII. [382. 385.] Edition of Basel, Volume III. (250.)

[383]

...pouring on warm water and rubbing with oil seemed to be the better course of action. When we had done this for nearly three hours, we saw that the tension was sufficiently relaxed and the pain, as the patient himself admitted, had become milder. We then urged him to make an effort to urinate. As he did so, we gently pressed the swelling of the bladder, forcing it downward. By doing these things, the young man urinated.

In such cases, the cause of the ischuria A condition where an individual is unable to pass urine. From the Greek ἰσχουρία. is clearly diagnosed by us. In certain other cases, however, the cause is not so obvious. In those instances, we find utility in what is now commonly called by everyone "skilled conjecture." This exists in a middle ground between exact knowledge and complete ignorance.

For this reason, it is not possible in all diseases to identify the pathognomonic syndromes A group of symptoms that are unique to a specific disease, allowing for a definitive diagnosis. From the Greek παθογνωμονικὰς συνδρομὰς. as they are named by the Empirics A medical sect that believed clinical experience and observation were the only valid foundations for medicine, rejecting the search for hidden causes or anatomy.. Instead, what Erasistratus A Greek anatomist and royal physician in the 3rd century BC. Although Galen often disagreed with him, he respects his focus on the need for mental training in diagnosis. was accustomed to saying is most true: "The man who intends to correctly diagnose not only the nature of the affliction but also the affected place must have a mind trained in reason." This training will proceed properly not if we seek...